The Road Ahead (Version 1)
by Jennifer Collins
Summary: Her absence doesn't sit well with him.


Author's Note: This was written for the U.S.S. Caryl's Music Lyric Drabble/ Fanart Challenge on tumblr. This is my first time submitting to any kind of social media challenge. It might also be my first posted songfic. The song is Let Her Go, by Passenger.

_Well, you only need the light when it's burning low  
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow  
Only know you love her when you let her go_

He sat on the floor in his cell with his back against the wall. The sinking feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach had spread throughout his body, and all he felt was empty.

No one came, but then again he didn't expect them to. In all honesty, he figured if they knew better, they wouldn't.

_Staring at the bottom of your glass  
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last  
But dreams come slow and they go so far  
You see her when you close your eyes  
Maybe one day you'll understand why  
Everything you touch surely dies_

The hours stretched on into the night agonizingly slow, as he imagined the rest of the days would without her. Without her. The notion seemed unacceptable in his mind before, he knew that now. But either way, the choice had been taken away from him.

_Well, you only need the light when it's burning low  
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow  
Only know you love her when you let her go_

_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low  
Only hate the road when you're missing home  
Only know you love her when you let her go  
And you let her go_

He stood abruptly, left the room and walked down the hall to the next cell. It still smelled like her. The sheets, the pile of folded cargo pants and cardigans sitting abandoned on the chair, the book resting on the table with a forgotten bookmark. "Dammit!" He cursed out loud, kicking the legs out from under the folding chair and watching her things fall to the floor.

A second later he was picking them up, holding her favorite sweater up to his face and breathing deeply.

He slammed his fists into the table in one last desperate attempt to vent the anger, but the anger stayed. The regret stayed, the bitterness stayed, the hollow, empty feeling in his chest stayed too. Fuck this, he thought.

_Staring at the ceiling in the dark  
Same old empty feeling in your heart  
Cause love comes slow and it goes so far_

He was out the door in a matter of seconds, ignoring the pleas that followed him from behind and he tugged the fence closed before he turned around to mount his bike, never once looking back.

It was dark and crisp, and the road stretched on forever in front of him, but he didn't care. He rode eight miles south, his mouth twitching up slightly as he chose which direction to go from there. He could hear the low groaning of walkers on either side of him as he rode at a leisurely pace, but he didn't care. He didn't even pay attention to how many of them there were. It just didn't matter.

_Well you see her when you fall asleep  
But never to touch never to keep  
Cause you loved her too much and you dived too deep_

He dug around in his pocket for the unopened pack of cigarettes that he'd been keeping for a special occasion.

Six miles later, he was slowing down, the dim glow from his headlight casting out over the grass. It took him almost a full minute, but he got what he needed and headed on.

It was hours before he was swinging his leg to the ground and padding across the uneven pavement. She didn't even look up as he approached with his flashlight in hand and cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"How on earth did you find me?" She asked, her voice cutting through the quiet darkness even though it was nearly a whisper.

He grinned, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and offering it to her. "I'm a tracker, remember?"

She shook her head. "I'm not going back."

"What a coincidence. Neither am I."

_Well, you only need the light when it's burning low  
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow  
Only know you love her when you let her go_

He thought he saw a spark light in her eyes then, but it was so damn dark he wasn't sure. She shuffled her feet idly.

He nodded to the vehicle parked by the curb. "That your car?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Good. Pull it up behind my bike. We can head north. I'll show you the way."

"No."

_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low  
Only hate the road when you're missing home  
Only know you love her when you let her go  
And you let her go_

He looked up, not sure he'd heard her correctly. "'Scuse me?"

She tugged the keys out of her pocket and headed for the driver's side. "I'm kind of done with the whole following people thing. You either get in or you ride behind."

"Well, okay then." He nodded thoughtfully, not even hesitating before he slid into the passenger's seat.


End file.
